'Hitman' killed in another attempted hit at Colin Booysen

Another shooting in the ongoing deadly "extortion turf war" in Cape Town happened on Friday afternoon‚ this time with the bodyguard of alleged extortion syndicate boss Colin Booysen killing a suspected hitman from a rival gang.

The bodyguard‚ who according to sources was motivated by “self defence”‚ shot and killed a man who was reportedly hired by the Sexy Boys gang‚ which is allegedly controlled by Colin’s brother‚ Jerome “Donkie” Booysen.

Colin was reportedly the target‚ but he escaped unharmed.

Sources close to both brothers told TimesLIVE that the shooting‚ which took place shortly after 4pm on Friday‚ might be the result of a battle for “turf”. The Booysen brothers are at the helm of opposing nightclub “security” organisations.

According to police statements made in an extortion court case against Colin‚ which is expected to go on trial in October‚ the security companies and bouncer services provided by the two groupings - partly headed by both brothers – are‚ in fact‚ fronts for extortion syndicates.

Friday’s shooting in Belhar resulted in Colin’s bodyguard killing the suspect “in self defence”. A source said that the bodyguard told them that “it was either he shoot the guy‚ or the guy shoots Colin”.

It is believed that Colin’s vehicle was also damaged in the incident‚ which took place in Jacaranda Avenue. Colin was not harmed‚ but pictures from the crime scene purport to show where a bullet hit his bullet-proof BMW SUV on the driver seat window.

This is the fourth major hit in recent months after Jerome Booysen survived an attempted hit on August 1. It was reported at the time that after he was shot in the arm‚ Jerome retaliated and killed the suspected hitman in a Spur restaurant in Kuilsriver.

One of Colin’s associates and fellow suspect in the extortion case‚ Carl Lakay‚ was killed in Goodwood four days later. The other three suspects in the trial are Nafiz Modack‚ Ashley Fields and Jacques Cronje.

Fields’ brother was also shot in Woodstock in August after Fields’ golden BMW‚ which he was driving at the time‚ was peppered with bullets.

The violence between the alleged kingpins has resulted in gun battles between rival gangs on the Cape Flats‚ which also allegedly fall under their locus of control.

Police had not responded to requests for comment at the time of publishing.